Dak, Sera, and Riq return to the United States in the year 1850 when the nation is divided over the issue of slavery. The Underground Railroad provides a light of hope, helping runaway slaves escape to freedom. But the SQ has taken control of the Underground Railroad from within. Now Dak and Sera are left wondering who to trust…

It’s been a few months since the last time I had a book from The Infinity Ring series to plow through and share my thoughts about, so if you need a refresher as to what has been going on in the two books previous you can refer to my comments about book one and book two respectively if you need.

The release of The Infinity Ring: The Trap Door, the third book in the series took me a little by surprise to be honest. I knew it was probably coming out soon, but didn’t know how soon until it randomly showed up on Amazon as a recommended read that had just been released. A pleasant surprise to say the least as I quite enjoy these books even though the target audience is for kids less than half my actual age…

After meeting Christopher Columbus and then taking on a horde of vikings, Dak, Sera, and Riq get to come home to the United States in the year 1850 and see what they can do about the fact that the SQ has taken over the Underground Railroad. I’ll honestly say that I was quite impressed that whomever is planning out the historical events that are being used as plot devices for these books decided to go with the Underground Railroad theme. It’s something we all learn about in school, but then we don’t get a lot of exposure to later in life. I’m guessing that given the target audience is children ages 8-12 that this historical event was chosen on purpose because its one that you learn about when you are that age. Excellent foresight by the editors and authors in my opinion.

While the first two books were mainly about Dak and Sera, this book is almost exclusively about Riq. His ancestors were involved with the Underground Railroad and so the things the three kids are doing are going to have a direct impact on him specifically, possibly even erase his existence. When Riq figures all of this out he has a very serious and impressive moment of growth about who he is, what he stands for, and what he’s willing to give up for the ultimate safety of mankind. I liked that as a reader I finally had the chance to be inside of Riq’s head for a little bit instead of hearing once more about how Dak’s impetuousness dropped the group into a heap of uncalled for trouble.

There is also some pretty important foreshadowing about where things might be going several books down the line in a small scene with Sera that I’m not going to reveal because it will be fun for you to find it on your own. Oh, and Dak finally calms down and seems to understand he can’t just do whatever he wants. Finally.

Next up in the series is The Infinity Ring: Curse of the Ancients, due to be released on June 4, 2013. So, it will be a little while before I get to revisit these books, but if previous evidence can be trusted, it will be worth the wait.

Grade: B
Length: 192 pages

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